Help! I'm A Fish - Again?
by MWolfL
Summary: Fly and family are visiting Professor MacKrill, and meet his niece. Her accidentally taking the potion causes a series of events that leads to Fly and Chuck getting a new family member. FlyXOC and ChuckXOC.
1. The Last Enemy

A.N. I named Professor MacKrill Hubert because it means bright heart.

It was the summer after Fly, Stella, Chuck, and Sasha's adventure in the ocean, and they were now a year older. They, their parents, and Sasha, were visiting Professor Hubert MacKrill again, since despite last year's adventure even Fly still enjoyed swimming near the beach. He just didn't like crabs anymore (except as food of course).

When they arrived they got a surprise: a girl around Chuck's age, with red hair, was with Hubert on the beach greeting them.

"Hello again, everyone I'd like you to meet my niece Morgan MacKrill." Hubert smiled. "She lives inland with her parents, but she loves the ocean and wanted to spend part of her summer vacation here with me."

"Oh that's right, you told us about her and her parents last winter." Bill, Fly and Stella's dad, smiled.

That winter Bill, Lisa, and Anna had invited Hubert to join them for Christmas, but he declined explaining that he had his own family to visit further inland.

"Hello." Morgan smiled. "Whoa, cool horse."

"Thanks, her name is Sasha." Stella smiled. "If you'd like you can ride her later."

"I'd love to, but first I'd better finish getting ready." Morgan chuckled, since she wasn't even in her bathing suit yet. "I just arrived a few minutes ago and didn't have time to change earlier, I haven't even unpacked yet."

"No problem, we can wait until you get your beach stuff." Fly smiled.

"Thanks, be down in a few." Morgan left for Hubert's lab.

She quickly changed into her bathing suit and got her beach supplies, and then decided to fill her reusable water bottle with a cold drink from the kitchen. Inside the fridge she found a few beakers of a red liquid.

"Heh, figures. Uncle Hube does love science stuff." She chuckled to herself. "Must be some kind of punch he invented...well, since he's a good cook it's worth a try."

She poured some of the red liquid into her bottle, failing to notice a fish label on the other side, and headed back to the beach.

She then joined Fly and Stella in building a sand castle, and also rode Sasha for a bit. Then she saw Hubert and Chuck riding the water slide they made last year.

"Wow, can I try?" She grinned.

"Sure, it's a lot of fun." Chuck grinned.

Morgan climbed up and into the slide, and loved it.

"That was amazing! Uncle Hube, how did you come up with this?" She asked.

"Actually, it was Chuck's idea." Hubert smiled.

"Really? Impressive." Morgan smiled. "Are you a scientist too?"

"Well, not a professional one." Chuck chuckled. "But I love studying science, mostly biology."

"I enjoy biology myself, mostly marine biology." Morgan then chuckled. "My parents have always joked that I must be Uncle Hube's daughter instead of theirs because of that. Especially since they're not as into science as Uncle Hube and I are, mom's a carpenter and dad's a chef."

"Yup, my brother is the reason why I became a good cook. When we were kids we enjoyed trying recipes together, especially desserts." Hubert smiled. "Good thing too, I would probably be ordering take-out a lot if I hadn't learned how to cook from him."

Everyone politely chuckled at that, including Hubert himself.

"Whew, already getting thirsty. I'll be right back." Morgan headed for her stuff.

"Okay Morgan." Hubert nodded.

Morgan took out her bottle and took a sip, only to draw back and drop her bottle with shock. She then gasped and cringed.

"Morgan? Are you okay?" Stella asked.

"Uncle...Hube...what kind of punch...did you make?" Morgan wheezed.

"Punch? I didn't-" Hubert's eyes widened with horror. "Oh no, did you get your drink from one of the beakers in the fridge?"

"Yeah-" Morgan was cut off by turning into a fish!

Fortunately, she was able to regain enough common sense to flop into the ocean before she could dry out.

"You made more of that potion?" Anna frowned.

"Well it is in case the ice caps do end up melting..." Hubert explained weakly.

"Maybe you should keep them in a locked fridge." Fly frowned.

"Right...but first I have to go after her." Hubert said. "I just need to get the antidote first."

He headed back to his lab and quickly poured some of the antidote into a flask small enough for a fish to carry. He then returned and went over to Morgan's water bottle, which had spilled some of the potion into the sand.

"Good, there's still some left." He said. "Might as well use it all up."

"Hold on, Chuck and I are coming with you." Fly said. "We already discussed it, we've been down there before and so can help you."

"Right, I mean we don't have to worry about Joe anymore but you never know what else we might encounter." Chuck agreed.

"All right, but only if it's okay with your parents." Hubert agreed, not wanting to waste time arguing.

"Well we will be worried about our kids, but they were able to save themselves last time they were down there." Lisa said.

"Especially thanks to Charles, in fact since he can fight off a swarm of piranha then it probably would be best if he went with you." Anna added.

"Very well, and I promise to protect them as if they were my own kids." Hubert nodded.

"I'm coming too." Stella said.

"Sorry Stella, not this time. I don't want to have to worry about you along with Morgan." Fly shook his head. "Besides, you need to help Sasha keep our parents company while we're gone."

"Oh fine..." Stella reluctantly gave in, truthfully not wanting to leave Sasha behind anyway.

Hubert, Fly, and Chuck each took a sip of the potion and headed underwater. Fly and Chuck turned into a California Flyfish and a jellyfish again respectively, while Hubert turned into a large shrimp.

They swam on, until they spotted a scared-looking Vermillion Snapper hiding in a kelp bed.

"Morgan!" Hubert called as they swam to her.

"Uncle Hube?" Morgan said with surprise, swimming out of the kelp bed. "Thank goodness, not only can you get me out of here but you can explain what the heck happened to us in the first place."

"I'm sorry Morgan, you see I invented a potion to turn people into fish in case the polar ice caps melt and flood the world." Hubert explained. "I was keeping the potion in the fridge because I made it out of organic materials, it goes bad if I leave it out too long. I should have told you, but I'm trying to keep it a secret as much as possible since the potion is for emergencies only."

"Yeah, like your little sister accidentally drinking it, so you have to drink it too to go after her." Fly added.

"Fly? Chuck?" Morgan finally recognized them. "You two have taken the potion before huh?"

"Yes, as Fly explained it was to get Stella who drank it by accident when your uncle was going to test it on himself last year." Chuck explained. "Fortunately he created an antidote, so we'll be able to turn human again."

"Yes, but even so...well truthfully I was also afraid that you would be tempted to drink it due to your love of the ocean. Fly, Chuck, and Stella nearly got killed, especially Fly, so...I just didn't want to lose you." Hubert hung his head.

"It's okay, and I'm sorry too. I should have asked first before drinking something I didn't completely recognize." Morgan gently smiled.

Then unexpectedly, a long brown fish with stripes and spots swam up to them. An intelligent-looking fish too. Fly and Chuck drew back warily.

"Oh thank goodness you two are all right, I've been worried about you." She smiled before looking confused. "But where's the cute little starfish? And the seahorse?"

"My sister and Sasha?" Fly glanced at Chuck with confusion. "Um...back on land...who are you?"

"Er...well we've never really given ourselves names yet so..." The fish winced.

"You're a Zoarces viviparus, or Viviparous Eelpout." Chuck said, still looking at the fish with suspicion. "At least that's your species anyway."

"Right...oh yes, you obviously still have bad memories of Joe. I don't blame you either." The eelpout sighed. "Don't worry, I was never on his side. I was the only one, besides the four of you of course, to realize how selfish and egotistical he really was from the beginning. Then I saw him scold Shark and Crab after the four of you escaped, and when he tried to execute them I realized that he wouldn't hesitate to be crueler to the rest of us. Truthfully, I became fond of you four for defying Joe. You especially were very brave." She turned to Fly and smiled.

"Uh...thanks." Fly relaxed, realizing that they could trust this fish. "So you've obviously been wondering where we've been...truthfully, we've been on land. We're actually humans, and we also turned Sasha the seahorse into a land horse so that she could stay with my sister Stella."

"Humans?" The eelpout looked surprised, but got over it. "Well, I have to admit it does explain where that potion came from in the first place."

"Yes, my fault." Hubert spoke up. "I shouldn't have left it where Stella could reach it."

"Oh we've already been over this, it wasn't really anyone's fault." Chuck said. "It was just a combination of accidents and well-meaning but misguided decisions."

"Huh?" The eelpout said.

"Chuck means that none of us meant any harm with the mistakes we made." Fly chuckled. "You'll get used to the way he talks when you get to know him more."

Chuck playfully stuck a tongue out at Fly, and the eelpout giggled.

"So, this is Hubert and I'm his niece Morgan." Morgan spoke up. 'Those two are Fly and Chuck. And I don't want to keep calling you Eelpout, so maybe we can give you another name."

"I'd actually really like that." The eelpout nodded.

"Hmmm...how about Zoe? It's similar to her species' science name." Fly suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Morgan nodded.

"I like it." Zoe smiled.

"Zoe it is then." Hubert smiled.

"So, if you're normally humans what are you doing back here?" Zoe asked.

"Oh I accidentally took the potion so they came to get me." Morgan shrugged. "Guess we should take the antidote before your parents start to worry."

"I think it's too late for that, you know parents." Fly chuckled.

"Oh yeah." Morgan chuckled as well.

"Yes but even so we should head back soon anyway." Chuck said.

"Oh...well I guess it is important that you return to your parents but you just got here." Zoe looked disappointed.

"Hm, well we don't really have to leave until this evening since Hubert invited us to dinner." Fly noted.

A.N. Last year Hubert insisted that everyone call him by his first name.

"We shouldn't stay here that long, but I guess a few more minutes wouldn't hurt." Hubert said. "At least since Zoe has obviously been worried about you, so it would be kinda rude to leave her without some more info."

"Right, like what happened to Joe and how did Fly survive the wound Crab gave him?" Zoe asked. "I mean...that wound did look fatal..."

"Oh surviving the wound was a cinch once I turned back into a human, it merely turned into a broken leg which isn't a big deal for us." Fly waved a fin dismissively. "Joe though...er, he stole the remaining antidote from us and we really needed it, so I resorted to tricking him into drinking more of the antidote while he was still underwater. The antidote turns other fish into humans too, so once he drank enough of the antidote he...well...drowned."

"Drowned?" Zoe said.

"The land creature equivalent of a fish being out of water for too long." Chuck explained. "In short: Joe died."

"Oh." Zoe said with relief. "I mean I probably shouldn't be glad about death in general, but I was worried that Joe might become too dangerous a ruler. So as long as he isn't a threat anymore..."

"Exactly." Fly nodded.

"I suppose...keep in mind I don't know the whole story." Morgan crossed her fins and raised an eyebrow.

"Oops, sorry Morgan." Chuck said sheepishly. "We'd best explain now."

So they did, at least the summary of it. Chuck and Fly explained that they were hanging out at the beach, when the rising tide caused them to find a secret entrance leading to Hubert's lab. Then they went through Stella turning into a starfish and them turning themselves into fish to look for her. They also explained about Joe and dealing with him, Crab, and Shark.

"That reminds me, whatever happened to Shark?" Fly asked Hubert. "I mean I know he got stuck in that tube thing underwater before you and dad freed him, but you two never found out for sure whether he was alive or dead."

"That's true, we were too focused looking for you, Chuck, and Stella that we didn't think twice about the shark." Hubert nodded.

"I never heard anything either. I guess if he did survive then he just swam somewhere else to start a kingdom of his own." Zoe shrugged.

Unfortunately, their questions were suddenly answered by Shark appearing!

"You two!" He said angrily. "This time I'm gonna eat you before you can cause any more trouble!"

He went after Fly and Chuck, who instantly swam away. Hubert made Morgan hide amongst some rocks so that Shark wouldn't notice them.

"We've got to save them, but how?" Morgan asked.

"I'm not sure...I don't want to risk losing the antidote or you getting hurt..." Hubert hesitated.

Fortunately they didn't have to do anything, Zoe - who swam away earlier - came back with what looked like the spike of an urchin. She then charged and stabbed Shark in the dorsal fin with the spike. Crying out in pain, Shark swam away.

"Hey great work Zoe!" Fly smiled, impressed.

"Thanks, after seeing your bravery I decided to try being braver too." Zoe blushed.

Morgan looked at her suspiciously, starting to wonder...had Zoe gotten a crush on Fly?

But then Shark came back, and this time saw Hubert, Morgan...and the flask, which had the anti-fish logo on it.

"The potion!" He said, now going after Hubert and Morgan.

Hubert and Morgan froze with horror, but luckily Fly and Chuck saw what was happening and zoomed ahead to pull them out of the way in time. This caused Shark to slam into a rock wall instead, causing pieces of rock to break off and fall down. Chuck and Morgan swam away from the rocks in time, but Hubert was in the path of a sharp one without knowing. Fly, seeing this, automatically swam to Hubert and pushed him out of the way...getting sliced in the chest instead!

"Fly!" Chuck screamed with horror.

Hubert, seeing Fly, dove down and caught him before swimming him away from the rest of the rocks. Chuck gathered enough sense despite his horror to grab a piece of seaweed, and then swam over to Hubert and Fly to use the seaweed as a bandage so that Fly wouldn't lose too much blood this time.

"Oh Fly..." Chuck choked.

"Relax Chuck, I'll be okay." Fly smiled reassuringly...despite knowing that he was in serious need of medical attention.

Hubert, Morgan, and Chuck were so worried about Fly that they didn't notice that Shark had recovered and was going after them again. Zoe, despite also being worried about Fly, fortunately did due to being farther away and dove in to bite Shark on the nose.

"Hey!" Shark protested. "I'll get you first!"

Zoe swam away as Shark went after her, and managed to trick him into getting stuck between two giant rocks. Chuck and Morgan saw this and caught up to Zoe.

"Hey, nice move." Morgan smiled.

"Thanks." Zoe smiled back.

"Come on, it's time we ended this threat once and for all." Chuck said determinedly, having spotted a boulder on top of the rock wall.

He led them to the boulder and, getting the same idea, they helped him push the boulder off the wall. It fell...and landed on Shark's head.

Chuck, Morgan, and Zoe cheered over the end of the threat, only to stop with horror upon realizing that the impact of the boulder landing caused a shockwave that removed more pieces of rock from the wall. Seeing one head towards Hubert and Fly, Zoe zoomed ahead and pushed them out of the way, getting hit by the rock instead.

Horrified, the others swam down to her. She was still alive, but unconscious and not looking well at all.

"She saved us...we have to save her." Fly said weakly.

"Of course we will." Hubert nodded. "You two get Zoe, I'll continue carrying Fly."

After picking up Zoe, they all swam back towards shore. Morgan drank the antidote first and ran to get a bucket, which Chuck put Zoe into after filling it with seawater. Hubert then drank the antidote and gave some to Fly, then Chuck drank.

"Oh thank goodness...what happened to Fly?" Lisa asked with horror, seeing the gash on his chest.

"A rock was about to hit me when..." Hubert choked. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Bill said reassuringly.

Morgan, meanwhile, had rushed Zoe into the lab.

"Where is Morgan going?" Anna asked.

"A smart fish got hurt saving us from the shark we told you about, so Morgan is taking her inside so that we can heal her." Chuck explained.

"Best get me healed too, this salt water really stings." Fly winced.

Bill helped Hubert carry Fly inside. They cleaned his wound and treated it, but it was still clear that he would need to be taken to a hospital soon for stitches.

"Heh, hope I don't get a scar. Then I'd have to wear a shirt while swimming." Fly joked.

"I think that's the least of your worries." Bill frowned, unamused.

"Right...sorry."

"It's okay, after all the important thing is you'll survive." Bill calmed down.

"Chuck's seaweed bandage helped with that." Fly smiled.

Bill and Lisa gave Chuck a grateful smile.

"Hey...how's Zoe?" Fly asked worriedly.

"Not good." Morgan shook her head, coming in. "She has internal wounds but is too small for an operation. Not even Uncle Hubert can think of a way to save her."

"Well...what about making her human? Fly's injuries become less severe when he turns back into a human, so it might work for Zoe." Chuck suggested.

"I did think of that, but...well Fly did say that Joe looked deformed when he tricked him into becoming human." Hubert walked in.

"Maybe that just has to do with the fish's personality?" Fly shrugged.

"He could be right. We still don't know why we turn into the fish we do...well, Fly's first name and Hubert's last name explains their fish forms, but we still don't know why I turn into a jellyfish and Stella turns into a starfish." Chuck agreed.

"It's worth a try either way." Morgan agreed. "I'll get some of my clothes for Zoe."

"No, better use mine. We don't know what size she'll be as a human and I am bigger than you." Hubert said.

So he went to get a spare shirt and pants, and lay them on the floor. Zoe was then carefully placed into the shirt, and given the antidote until she reached human size and form. To everyone's surprise, she actually looked normal - pretty even - for a human save for the dark brown spotting on her brown skin and her black and brown striped hair. She even seemed to be around Fly, Chuck, and Morgan's age.

Zoe then groaned and slowly woke up, only to bolt upright with shock upon seeing her hand.

"You turned me into a human?" She asked confusedly.

"It was the only way to save your life." Chuck said.

"Oh. It's worked, I think I'm only bruised now." Zoe winced a little from the pain. "So...now what?"

"Well...maybe just leave you as a human until you're fully healed then turn you back into a fish?" Hubert said unsurely.

"Mmmm...nah. I don't want to go back into the ocean or stay in a tank." Zoe shook her head. "I'd rather stay with my new friends." She then smiled.

"Well...how would we explain where you came from?" Anna asked.

"Actually, it's kinda obvious when you think about it." Fly chuckled. "Just say we found her injured by the beach and she lost her parents in the sea. It is true in a way, and we won't need to worry about keeping a more detailed story straight either."

"That could work, and we could just shrug off her lack of a last name by saying she got amnesia during the storm." Chuck added.

"Okay...I guess she could just stay here too." Hubert shrugged.

"No...I'll adopt her. She does want to stay near her friends, and we live more inland." Anna offered.

"After having seen Fly and Stella's relationship I think I'd like having a sister." Chuck shrugged with a smile.

"Sounds good to me too." Zoe smiled. "No need to worry about my fish parents either, I don't even know who they are. They probably were amongst the many fish who didn't take the potion."

"Good point...but despite that I still have to admit I'm a bit surprised that you'd want to give up your fish form and home for us." Chuck admitted. "I mean, I can't imagine giving up being human and my home for anything. Save for the ice caps completely melting of course."

"I guess you could say that one friend in particular is more than worth it." Zoe smiled at Fly.

Fly couldn't help blushing at that, but otherwise had no idea what she meant. Everyone else, except for Stella and Sasha, caught on and smiled.

"I...I don't get it. What do you mean?" Fly asked awkwardly.

"Really? I thought you finally started using your brains last summer." Chuck playfully teased him with a nudge.

"Yeah well not everyone can be an insufferable genius." Fly playfully retorted, giving Chuck a friendly headlock and noogie. "Now will someone please tell me what's going on?"

Zoe answered his question by suddenly kissing him. Fly froze and stiffened, wide-eyed, at that. Zoe then ended the kiss with a blush and smile, while Fly just sat there still frozen. After a few seconds he finally blinked, and to his own surprise felt his heart beating faster.

"Oh..." Was all he could say.

Stella giggled, mostly because she already liked Zoe and so liked the idea of Fly dating her. Bill, sensing Fly's awkwardness, cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we should take Fly and Zoe to the hospital now." He said.

Remembering Fly's wound, everyone else agreed. Hubert, Morgan, and Zoe went into Anna's car with Chuck...after a few minutes of explaining cars to Zoe that is.


	2. Getting Used to Human Society

Zoe really did only have bruises, so after a quick check-up from the doctors she was let go. Since Fly needed stitches he was going to be there for a while, so Anna decided to pass the time buying Zoe some decent clothing. Of course Chuck knew nothing about buying female clothing, so he elected to stay behind both for Fly's sake and so that Anna and Zoe could get to know each other more before Anna officially adopted her.

After the shopping spree, which Zoe had a lot of fun doing (Anna did too for that matter), they came back in time to see Fly leave.

"Normally we prefer our patients to stay for a few days, but the cut wasn't as bad as it looked and your son seems perfectly fine otherwise so if you prefer we'll let him go now." The doctor said to Bill and Lisa.

"We would prefer Fly coming home with us, thank you." Bill nodded.

"I think resting at home would be best for Fly after that accident." Lisa agreed.

They all started to leave.

"So...how do humans get adopted?" Zoe asked.

"We simply take up matters with the court. Since you don't have a human past that might make things tricky, but hopefully we can at least get permission for you to live with us as a foster child if nothing else." Anna explained.

"Foster?"

"That's what you call a minor, or someone younger than an adult, who is being cared for without living in an orphanage." Chuck explained. "Orphanages used to be a more common way to care for orphans, but they recently fell out of favor when the foster care system was invented. And of course an orphan is simply a minor without a family."

"Ah."

"You know, before you really start to enter society it may not be a bad idea to teach you other human facts and behaviors. We don't want to risk attracting unwanted attention, especially if it leads to your identity as a fish being exposed." Chuck reasoned.

"That is a good idea." Fly agreed. "You and Aunt Anna can start off with in-home behaviors, especially as you get a room ready for her, and Stella, Morgan, and I can help with other details later on."

"Okay. Call you tomorrow to see how you're doing?"

"You bet. I'd like to hear how Zoe handled her first night on land anyway."

"Got it, talk to you tomorrow then."

"By Chuck."

Everyone else said their goodbyes, Bill promised to call Hubert tomorrow to let him know how Fly was doing, and they left. Anna, Chuck, and Zoe first went to drop Hubert and Morgan off at home before going to court to work on adopting Zoe.

"Lessons on acting like a human sound good to me, I don't want to attract unwanted attention either." Zoe said. "Just one thing...I suppose you both know that I love Fly?"

"The kiss did make it obvious." Anna smiled.

"Right...well...you think Fly will ever love me back? He didn't seem to like the kiss." Zoe said nervously.

"Oh don't worry about his reaction, he was just caught off-guard." Chuck smiled. "He never considered dating at all before, since we recently had become teenagers which is usually when humans first really start worrying about dating. So...I wouldn't be too optimistic, but otherwise there is a chance he may return your feelings."

"Okay." Zoe felt a bit better. "Wait...what's dating?"

Chuck explained.

They then took care of the adoption process. Sure enough it was hard and took a long time, but Zoe confirming that from what she remembered she had no relatives and admitting that she wanted Anna to adopt her actually convinced the government to let the adoption go through instead of settling for foster care. The only condition was that if a 'long lost' relative came forward with a claim for Zoe and was proven to be related to her, Anna would let them take custody of her. Anna, Zoe, and Chuck agreed since they knew that would never happen anyway.

Once they returned home, she looked around curiously. Not only due to never having seen a human home before, but also due to slowly realizing that something was missing.

"Say...where's 'our' dad?" She asked.

"Oh..." Chuck became really sad. "He, uh, died a few years ago."

"Oh...I'm sorry." Zoe said sympathetically, deciding to drop the subject.

"It's okay." Chuck shrugged, sounding the opposite.

The next day Bill of course called Hubert first thing that morning to tell him that Fly was doing okay. The stitches would take a few weeks to heal, but otherwise there was nothing to worry about. Chuck then called Fly, and was relieved to hear the same thing. Fly was also glad that Zoe adapted quickly, since he didn't want their new friend to risk making anyone suspicious of her (especially the government).

Later that day Chuck and Zoe decided to visit Fly. Since Bill and Lisa didn't want to risk the stitches coming loose Chuck and Zoe decided to make it a peaceful visit rather than do something that required a lot of activity.

Chuck went to the backyard to play with Stella and Sasha, while Zoe asked Fly hang out with her on the porch for a moment.

"I just wanted to, well, apologize for the kiss I guess." Zoe said. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything."

"Nah it's okay. Actually the kiss was really nice." Fly admitted. "It's just...I figured I wouldn't really start to focus on dating until my junior year of high school, since I want to wait for the right girl instead of giving all the girls a try like some guys might. Don't want to give up my adventures you know?"

"Yeah, I understand." Zoe smiled.

"Because of that...well, frankly I'm not sure what to do." Fly shrugged. "I mean, I don't want to hurt you but...well, I'm not exactly sure whether I love you back or not. I do really like you as a friend though."

"That's good enough for now." Zoe smiled. "And I should explain: fishes automatically become mates when they're attracted to each other. That's why I kissed you like that without warning... Fishes don't actually kiss though, but it was probably a side effect from the potion."

"Probably." Fly blushed a little. "Um, since you're not a fish anymore I should warn you ahead of time: human relationships aren't that simple. Couples rarely stay as couples, whether dating or married, becoming mates as you put it. Even those who get married may realize that they can't stay together and separate; we call that getting a divorce."

"Oh...geez, humans really are complicated." Zoe remarked.

"Yeah, we are." Fly chuckled. "So...as I said before it was a nice kiss, but I'd prefer us getting to know each other more before we attempt dating. Especially since I don't want to risk harming our friendship."

"Me either, so I can wait." Zoe smiled...before looking sad. "Um, yesterday I asked Chuck about his dad and he suddenly looked sad. I didn't want to hurt my brother."

"Ah don't blame yourself, Chuck's sadness wasn't your fault." Fly reassured her. "See, when Uncle Albert died in a car accident Chuck took it really hard and he still hasn't entirely recovered. He's better than he used to be though, before we first became fish he was so obsessed with studying and science and such that I became worried for him. I knew that since his dad was a biology teacher in college Chuck wanted to become one as well, sort of take his place in a way, but staying cooped up with science books and a laptop all day every day isn't healthy for anyone. I was especially worried that he wouldn't be able to live a full life, so I started trying to get Chuck to do other things like going down to the beach with me. Er...looking back I guess my methods might've been a little too harsh..."

"It's okay Fly."

Startled, Fly and Zoe turned to the front door to see Chuck standing there smiling, obviously having overheard.

"I mean yeah you did go a little too far sometimes...but at least your heart was in the right place." Chuck continued. "And I have to admit, you were right about me needing to get out more. So...thank you."

"Hey, what are cousins for?" Fly chuckled.

After going home Chuck told Anna why Fly had been forcing him on adventures and such in the past. Realizing that she had been too harsh on Fly, she called him to apologize. Fly accepted her apology but otherwise shrugged the matter off. He knew that Anna only took his actions the wrong way because she didn't know the reason behind them, so he never held a grudge on her for her having viewed him as a troublemaker. Truthfully he had considered telling her what he was up to when he first came up with the idea to make Chuck get out more, but didn't want to risk her telling Chuck the truth. Fly had a feeling that if Chuck had known the real reason why he was making him go on adventures, he would have rebelled the idea even more.

Days passed as Zoe got more used to her new human life. To help make her more comfortable her new family and friends considered not eating fish around her, only for her to explain that her species often ate the young and eggs of other fish anyway. Because of this she was capable of eating fish even now, though she only really liked the taste of shellfish and sometimes tuna. She also was interested in trying caviar, but it was expensive so Anna decided to save buying it for special occasions such as Zoe's birthday (the day she adopted her) and Christmas. And thanks to her new human form, Zoe actually became capable of eating human foods; even chocolate and dairy products. Apart from seafood she liked eggs the most though.

Then one day Fly decided that Zoe deserved to know one fact about him, especially because of her crush on him, and invited her over.

"What did you want to show me?" She asked after he took her to his room.

"Well...okay this sight may scare you, and if it does I apologize in advance for that, but there is something you should know about me." Fly rubbed the back of his head.

He then opened his closet to reveal his tackle box and fishing rods. Zoe did flinch upon seeing them, but otherwise wasn't scared. Mostly because she knew they weren't a danger to her anymore.

"Oh. You're a fisherman." She got it, sounding hesitant about how to react.

"Yeah. As a hobby really, dunno if I'll make it a career." Fly said. "Sorry if this offends you or anything...I mean if you want me to I guess I could give up fishing."

"No...it's fine. You're not the only human who catches and eats fish and I don't want you to give up who you are for anything." Zoe smiled.

"Ah, good, as long as you're not hurt." Fly smiled back.

"Nah...I am surprised though, I mean you did turn into a fish yet you never considered giving up fishing earlier?"

"Well Chuck, Stella, and I never encountered fishing hooks while we were down there." Fly shrugged. "Plus I figured that the fish who were affected by the antidote wouldn't be dumb enough to get caught on a hook anyway."

"That is true, we aren't." Zoe grinned.

Fly smiled back.

More days passed as Fly's wound continued healing. Zoe grew to love her new human life a lot, and never developed an urge to return to the sea as a fish. However she often had a desire to go swimming again, the only thing she missed from her fish life. Since Fly couldn't go swimming due to his stitches Anna and Chuck took Zoe swimming by themselves, so that she could get used to swimming with a human body.


	3. The Healing Isn't Over

After Fly had completely healed Bill and Lisa invited Anna, Chuck, and Zoe to go to the public pool with them in celebration a few days later. But when the day arrived...

"Pack up your things Fly, we're going to the pool to celebrate you being all better." Bill smiled.

"No!" Fly burst out before blushing and calming down. "Uh, I mean...no...I...I don't really want to go to the pool today."

Everyone looked at him with concern, except for Zoe who was just confused due to not knowing that Fly used to love swimming.

"But...Fly you love swimming." Lisa said concernedly.

"Yeah, and you promised to teach me a few swimming tricks this year." Stella pointed out.

"I...I know but..." Fly looked away.

Chuck started to get it.

"Fly...you're not...scared are you?" He asked hesitantly.

Fly remained silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Yeah. I am." He admitted. "I mean the last two times we were in the ocean I got hurt so..."

"But there aren't any fish in the pool." Stella pointed out.

"I know but..." Fly teared up. "I didn't want to scare you, but...Stella, I nearly died both times."

Stella was shocked, never having known just how badly wounded her brother was both times. Especially the first time, when she thought he had just gotten a bad stomachache. Tearing up as well, she went over to hug Fly who returned the hug.

"The truth is, I never want to be a fish again." He admitted.

Chuck became even more concerned, remembering how when they were first fish and gathering ingredients for the antidote Fly had remarked about him going to miss being a fish. Despite Fly joking that a burger would change that, Chuck knew that he wasn't kidding. In fact after his leg had healed last year Fly had kept gazing at the ocean whenever he got the chance, hinting that with Joe and Crab gone he really did want to be a fish again and have fun underwater. Chuck figured that he just didn't say anything because Hubert had invented the potion for emergency use only.

"PTSD." Chuck said.

"What?" Zoe asked.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Lisa explained. "It certainly would explain why Fly doesn't even want to go swimming in a pool."

"Fly...you haven't been having nightmares of the times you were wounded were you?" Bill asked.

Fly hung his head and nodded.

"I didn't want to worry you." He said.

"You should have told us, we could have helped you." Lisa said. "We still want to help...but what can we do? A therapist is out of the question because the potions have to remain a secret."

Chuck sighed.

"Fly's not going to like this...but the only thing I can think of is him turning back into a fish and having fun underwater again." He said.

"Oh no..." Fly groaned. "No. I'm not going any closer to the ocean than Hubert's lab. I especially don't want to risk encountering the other intelligent fish since they supported Joe."

"Oh...I've been so busy getting used to being a human and enjoying my new life I forgot." Zoe suddenly said regretfully. "Ever since Joe disappeared - or died rather - the other intelligent fish have become scared and confused. They don't know what to do without a leader and haven't been able to choose a new one yet."

"Gee...I don't want them to suffer because of us." Fly said. "But I can't help."

"If you go with Chuck's idea, maybe you can." Zoe said. "In fact maybe we all can."

"I...I don't know..." Fly hesitated.

"How about we at least rent a cabin cruiser? We won't force you to turn into a fish, and if you get a panic attack we'll head back to shore." Bill suggested.

"Well...okay. I guess at least I could always head inside and pretend I'm on land if I need to calm down." Fly gave in.

So, they all headed down to the docks to rent a cabin cruiser for the day. Almost Sasha too, at Stella's insistence, until it was made clear that they won't be able to afford a boat that could fit a horse onto it.

After selecting one that could comfortably hold all of them and fit within their budget, they sailed over to Hubert's place. Hubert and Morgan were already there waiting for them, because Bill had secretly called Hubert before they left to let him know the situation. So, along with some food, Hubert had packed the fish potion and antidote into a picnic basket.

They then headed out to sea, roughly to where Joe had been building his empire (Chuck had remembered the general location, and was able to calculate how far out they should sail). Fly stayed inside the whole time, trying to ignore the fact that he was above the ocean. Fortunately Chuck decided to bring his laptop, so Fly was able to use the games on it to keep himself calm.

"So...who's going down?" Hubert asked.

"Zoe and I definitely. Zoe originally was a fish so having her there may help them trust us." Chuck said. "As for me, maybe some of my science smarts can help too. And whether Fly helps or not he has to get over his PTSD, so he should come too."

"What about me?" Stella asked.

"Well...I'm not against the idea but I don't know what you can do to help." Chuck admitted.

"Hm...yeah, come to think of it, I don't know how I can help either." Stella agreed. "I mean, I don't know anything about running a town so..."

"Exactly." Chuck nodded.

"I want to come too." Morgan said.

"But...well, I could've lost you last time." Hubert hesitated.

"Relax, all their enemies are gone now remember? Besides, I didn't have time to actually enjoy being a fish last time."

"True."

"But what if Fly refuses to go with you?" Lisa said.

"I not going down there without him." Zoe insisted. "I believe they'll need Fly's help if they're going to survive."

"I'll go get him." Stella said.

She went inside the cabin, and saw Fly still playing games.

"Hey Fly, will you be done with that game soon?" Stella asked.

"Actually I can save it, so I can stop now." Fly looked up. "What do you need?"

"For you to come and help Chuck and Zoe help the intelligent fish." Stella said.

Fly paled.

"Brother, please, you know this is for your own good." Stella pleaded. "Look, at least just come outside and try to enjoy the ocean breeze or something."

"I..." Fly wanted to refuse, but found it hard to resist Stella's pleading eyes; he groaned. "Fine...I hate it when you do that you know."

"I know, that's why I try not to do it too often." Stella grinned.

Once Fly got up she, still grinning, grabbed Fly's hand and led him outside. Fly almost had a panic attack upon seeing and smelling the ocean, but Stella squeezed his hand and smiled at him causing him to not resist smiling back. They then walked towards the others.

"Fly, I know you're scared but we can't do this without you." Zoe pleaded.

Fly's heart skipped a beat upon looking into Zoe's eyes, but was still hesitant. Especially since his heart was pounding with fear.

"I...I'm sorry I..." He choked.

Stella then thought of something: the only reason why Fly had turned into a fish last time was because she had turned into one and he wanted to save her. Maybe that would work this time.

"I'm not giving up on you brother." Stella said determinedly before letting go of his hand.

Startled, Fly watched her go to the picnic basket.

"Stella what-?" He froze upon seeing her with the potion. "Stella? STELLA NO!"

Too late, Stella drank the potion and jumped in. Without thinking Fly automatically drank the potion and jumped in after her.

"She knows her brother." Zoe smiled.

"Lucky for us. Come on, we'd better catch up." Morgan went over to the potion.

She, Chuck, and Zoe drank - Zoe made sure not to drink too much, since she didn't want to risk losing her intelligence - and jumped in as well.

Fly swam after Stella and managed to catch her.

"Stella what were you thinking, why did you-" Fly then stopped and looked at his fins upon realizing why Stella drank the potion. "Oh. Of course."

Stella was a little nervous that Fly would get mad at her, but instead he smiled and hugged her.

"Thank you." He said.

She returned the hug just as Chuck, Morgan, and Zoe caught up with them.

"All right, let's go!" Morgan grinned. "I want to check out the intelligent fish."

Chuckling, everyone followed her...for a few seconds.

"Hold on Morgan, you don't even know where we're going." Fly chuckled.

"Oh yeah...got too excited." Morgan shrugged sheepishly.

"I'll lead, I know where to go." Chuck said.

"Yeah, he's practically got a GPS built into his brain." Fly joked.

"Very funny."

Morgan, Zoe, and Stella giggled.

They swam on, until they neared the ocean floor because Fly had just frozen with horror. The others were confused, until they spotted a crab nearby.

"Oh geez..." Chuck realized what was going on, and swam to Fly.

Sure enough, Fly was having a panic attack as he remembered Crab wounding him. The evil hate in Crab's eyes, the pain of his claw gashing his side...then he started hearing a strange sound.

"FLY!" Chuck yelled, shaking Fly by the shoulders.

Fly gasped and panted; turns out the strange sound had been Chuck calling his name.

"Fly, look at me, look at me, calm down." Chuck articulated, trying to keep Fly's focus away from the crab. "Okay, calm down. That. Is. Not. An. Intelligent. Crab. Okay? That is an ordinary crab, he's not an enemy."

"Look Fly, the crab is walking away." Stella pointed out.

Fly looked, and sure enough the crab hadn't noticed them at all and was leaving.

"Exactly." Chuck agreed. "You're safe."

Fly started to calm down...but couldn't help sobbing over the incident. Stella and Chuck hugged him to help him feel better, while Zoe looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"You're not the only one who was traumatized by that moment." She sniffled. "I was there, I wanted to help you all but Joe reached you before I could. Then I saw you stand up to Joe for Chuck and Stella's sake, and how you refused to surrender the antidote to Crab. That was when I first started loving you, seeing your courage and strong heart. But then when Crab wounded you...I was horrified. I wanted to help you so much but the crabs closed in and I was too scared of them to do anything. I lost track of you all during that waterspout, and since I never saw any of you again until earlier this summer...I was afraid that you had died." Zoe sobbed a little but then wiped her eyes and smiled. "I was so relieved to find you alive and well when we met...that was really why I wanted to stay with you all. I don't want to risk losing you again Fly."

Fly smiled, really touched. Truthfully, he had been developing some affection for Zoe over the past few days, and her speech now increased it. But he still wasn't sure...for one thing, he didn't think he was ready to date in general yet. He still wanted to have adventures and not give them up for movies and other simple outings.

"You won't. Next time an enemy wants something from us, I'll just give it to him and escape." He said. "I promise."

"Let's just hope you won't have to keep that promise." Morgan remarked. "You okay now Fly?"

"Yeah...let's get going." Fly nodded.

They continued swimming until they reached the sunken ship. The intelligent fish were still living there, but just swimming around without a purpose. Then they saw Fly and his friends.

"Say, you three are those fish who rebelled against Joe." One of them remembered before noticing Zoe. "And...I remember you...you lived with us until a few weeks ago. But who are you?"

"Just a new friend. Name's Morgan." Morgan shrugged. "Oh, we named her Zoe." She pointed to Zoe.

"And I'm Fly, and this is my sister Stella and cousin Chuck." Fly said.

"Where have you all been all this time? And where's Joe?" Another fish asked.

"Dead. I tricked him into drinking too much potion and he became human while still underwater." Fly admitted.

"You...what? Why would you do that?" A third fish was horrified.

"Quite simply: because he was willing to feed us to piranha and leave us to be stuck as fish." Chuck explained. "We're actually humans. Well except Zoe technically."

The other fish were shocked, and looked hesitant to believe them. Fly and Chuck explained to them about the potion and the trip they took back to the lab to get more of it, and as they neared the end of the story the rest of the fish looked sad.

"Sorry Zoe, we should've believe you about Joe." The first fish said.

"That's okay, he was a smooth talker so I didn't blame you for falling for his lies." Zoe smiled before chuckling: "Lucky for me I'm more impressed by actions than by words. Wouldn't have gotten my new life otherwise."

"New life?" A fourth fish asked.

"Yeah, she helped us defeat Shark a few weeks ago. However she got wounded in the process, so we had to turn her into a human to save her life. She decided to stay with us as a human after that, so my mom adopted her." Chuck explained.

"Ah...so, I guess since you're all human you can't be our new leaders? We still really need one." The first fish looked hopeful.

"Sorry, no. We have our own lives to live." Morgan said. "But we have come to help you choose a new leader and get more used to your new lives."

The intelligent fish were relieved.

"Now for starters...has any of you been helpful and selfless towards the others?" Fly asked.

"Well...he has I guess." A fifth fish pointed to the first fish. "He has been trying to help us decide what to do, though we've been to confused to really listen to him."

"What's your name?" Morgan asked.

"Um...we haven't gotten used to the idea of naming ourselves either." The first fish admitted.

"Guess we'll have to do the naming then." Chuck said.

"Hoo boy...we're gonna be here all day." Fly chuckled, noticing how many fish there were.

"Well, if it were up to me I'd name you Henry." Stella said to the first fish.

"Henry? Huh...you know, I like it." Henry smiled.

"Say...Stella that can be your task. While the rest of us help them start their own town, you can name them." Fly smiled.

"Sounds good to me." Stella grinned.

So Stella got to work naming each intelligent fish while Zoe, Fly, Chuck, and Morgan got to work with everything else. For starters it was noted that the large ship made a good home for all the intelligent fish by itself, but the intelligent fish admitted that they would rather have separate homes. Of course wood was out of the question as a building material, so Chuck and Morgan improvised with other materials; mostly rocks and seaweed, but also any shells that the fish hadn't turned into currency. Not that they built all the homes by themselves, rather they built one as an example and let the other fish build their homes to their own taste. Henry decided to adopt the home Chuck and Morgan built, explaining that he could alter and improve it later after everything else was settled. This made everyone else confident that Henry would be a good leader.

Fly decided that the ship could be mostly abandoned for now, save for salvaging any materials they might need, and just be used as a safe haven. Not that they expected any wars or major enemies to show up, but it couldn't hurt and it was easier than trying to get rid of the ship. Especially since the intelligent fish had gotten too used to the area to want to move away from it.

Zoe used her new knowledge of human life and combined it with her memories of fish life to work out other details. Clothing for example, the fish had slowly grown to like the idea of clothing but there weren't that many materials that could be used to make it. The intelligent fish that already had clothing had simply salvaged bits and pieces humans had dropped underwater, doll clothing being amongst them, but otherwise clothing really was hard to come by. Zoe then remembered that ships often sank with sails and sometimes cloth as part of the cargo, so they could use that. This also gave the intelligent fish the idea to salvage other materials from the far away sunken ships, unknowingly giving themselves another benefit in the process: they were slowly getting used to leaving their comfort zone.

"Thank you all for your help. I understand that you won't be visiting that often, so I would like to have statues made of you all. That way we'll always remember that it was you who saved us by defeating Joe and helping us adapt to our new lives." Henry said.

"Well...it was also kinda our fault Joe was a problem to begin with. We're the ones who dropped the antidote underwater in the first place." Fly pointed out awkwardly.

"Oh never mind that. We like our new intelligence too much to be upset about that." A fish piped up. "Especially since we don't have to worry about hooks anymore."

The other fish agreed.

So, since the intelligent fish had gotten a good start on their new lives, Fly and his friends left. After about half of a minute of swimming Fly looked around...and remembered that he's in fish form. He had been focusing so much on helping the intelligent fish that he had forgotten about him being one as well.

"What's wrong Fly?" Chuck asked, noticing that he stopped.

"I just realized...I'm a fish and...I don't feel any fear about it." Fly started to smile. "Gosh...I forgot how beautiful it is down here."

"Come on Fly, let's play!" Stella laughed, glad that her brother was feeling better and wanting to help him completely recover.

She swam off still laughing.

"Hey wait up you!" Fly laughed back, swimming after her.

Chuck, Morgan, and Zoe laughed as well and swam after them. They started to play, Fly slowly remembering how much he enjoyed being a fish before Joe ruined things.

After a while they stopped to catch their breath.

"Thanks guys." Fly smiled to them. "You know, I think I'm over my PTSD now. How about we play until sunset? Or at least until we get hungry."

"Sure." Zoe smiled.

Everyone else agree too, especially Stella.

"Tag you're it!" She suddenly said as she tagged Fly and swam away.

"Hey no fair!" Fly laughed, swimming after her.

Morgan and Zoe laughed as they got into the game too. Chuck shook his head with amusement before joining in.

Later on Fly stopped.

"Hey look at this shell, it has a hole in it." He swam over to it and picked it up.

"That's a conch shell." Chuck said.

"Well, maybe it can also be a trumpet." Fly blew into it, but the sound was off. "Nuts."

"Hmm...maybe it just needs additions to improve the quality of its sound." Chuck suggested.

"Great idea, but what?"

"How about those?" Morgan pointed to a bunch of golden items that looked like hollow horns.

"That could work." Chuck nodded.

Morgan grabbed three of them, and stuck them into the conch. Fly blew into it again, and this time it sounded better.

"Neato." Fly smiled before playing it some more.

Chuck, Stella, Morgan, and Zoe laughed and danced a bit. The intelligent fish overheard the commotion and swam over. They smiled, liking the sound of the shell and the look of the dancing.

"Excuse me?" Henry said.

Startled, Fly stopped playing and the others stopped dancing.

"Sorry to interrupt, we were just wondering what you were doing."

"Oh. Well we turned this shell into a musical instrument so that we could play music." Fly shrugged. "Music is basically pleasant sounds you like to listen to, and sometimes dance to."

"Which is what we were doing." Stella smiled.

"Well we like it." One of the fish said. "Is that what we were doing when Joe talked about giving us intelligence?"

"More or less, except music that comes out of someone's mouth is usually called singing." Chuck said.

"Say, would you like to take ownership of this conch shell?" Fly offered to the intelligent fish. "We won't really have a use for it as humans, and maybe this can inspire you to create some other musical instruments."

"I think that is a fine idea. Maybe we can even make it part of a bigger event...one celebrating the day we became intelligent and started our own community." Henry smiled. "An event with fun, music, and dancing."

"A 'founder's day' basically." Morgan said. "And the 'bigger event' you're thinking of is called either a celebration or festival."

"Festival...I like it."

Fly smiled, and gave Henry the conch shell.

"Oh, guys the sun is starting to set." Chuck pointed out.

"Darn...well, I'm getting hungry anyway. We should head back to have dinner." Morgan shrugged.

Fly, Stella, and Zoe reluctantly agreed, and said goodbye to the intelligent fish before swimming back to the boat.

Hubert spotted them at the side of the boat and used a bucket to scoop them up. He then carefully placed the bucket on the deck.

"Did you all have a good time?" Lisa asked.

"We had a great time!" Fly grinned.

The grown-ups smiled, knowing that Fly was over his PTSD.

"And the intelligent fish have gotten a new leader." Zoe added. "I think they won't need us anymore."

"That's wonderful!" Hubert smiled.

He then gently scooped them out of the bucket and gave them the antidote one at a time.

"You know, we had so much fun that I wouldn't mind doing this more often." Fly said. "Not too often though, maybe like once or twice a year during summer."

"I suppose that can be arranged." Bill smiled. "Maybe we can even join you?"

"Sounds good to me, though not all of us at once. At least one of us will have to stay behind to guard the boat and scoop the rest of us back onto the deck." Anna pointed out.

"That's fine, we can decide later who stays behind." Hubert nodded.

With that over, they headed back to shore. To celebrate Fly getting over his PTSD they decided to go out for dinner instead of cooking something at home.


	4. Time for School and Love

Time passed, and school started. Zoe was a little nervous, but knowing that Fly and Chuck were going to the same school helped (Chuck had skipped a grade due to his smarts). Not Morgan though, she lived in a different area with a different school. But they had already exchanged phone numbers and promised to meet up on weekends, so they weren't too sad about it. As for Stella, she was still too young to really start school but she did go to preschool; mostly because Bill and Lisa wanted her to socialize so that she'd already have some friends before elementary school.

Zoe ended up not having too bad a first day. She found the lessons school taught interesting, and she liked meeting up with Fly and Chuck for recess. The only problem was socializing, there were some nice teens she wouldn't mind being friends with but she was worried about them finding out about her having been a fish. After all if nothing else the potions had to remain a secret.

During lunch she admitted this to Fly and Chuck.

"Oh don't worry about that, just keep pretending that you have amnesia about what your life was like before we rescued you." Chuck reassured her during lunch.

"Yeah, real friends will understand if you never 'remember'." Fly smiled.

"Okay." Zoe smiled back. "I'll give it a try."

Fortunately, Chuck and Fly were right. The few friends Zoe made understood and respected her 'amnesia' over her past life, and didn't press her to tell them more details.

A couple years passed. School was...well, school. Ups and downs, fun and torture. You get the drill.

Summers were always fun though, especially when they made their trips into the ocean as fish. As promised the grown-ups joined in sometimes too.

They included trips to the fish village along with playing, and were happy to see that the intelligent fish were doing just fine on their own. The intelligent fish in turn were always happy to see them, and gave them a hero's welcome every visit. Fly and Chuck did find it a little embarrassing, but since they didn't get to see the intelligent fish that often they decided to let them have their fun. Stella wasn't affected by it, viewing each welcome as a party more than anything else. Zoe and Morgan weren't as big heroes as Fly, Chuck, and Stella, so they weren't that fussed over; because of that they took the celebrations in stride too.

Then it was Fly and Zoe's third school year, junior year. Or at least a week before anyway. They were all going school shopping in the mall, without their parents since Fly could drive them on his own. They met Morgan there, due to having already made plans via phone.

"How about we split up?" Morgan suggested. "Zoe and I will take Stella so we can do some girl shopping like getting new clothes, while you guys do your own thing."

"Sounds logical." Chuck agreed.

"Okay, but let's meet up in the food court around lunchtime." Fly said. "Then we can get the other supplies like notebooks together."

"Sure, should we meet up in front of a particular food place or at the tables?" Zoe asked.

"Oh let's meet up at the tables, we can take turns getting our food and guarding our things." Morgan said.

"Sounds good to me." Stella smiled.

So that's what they did. Zoe started looking at nice dresses as well as clothes for school.

"Trying to make yourself look more attractive for Fly?" Stella friendly-teased.

"Um...yeah." Zoe blushed. "I mean it's been two years and he hasn't shown any sign of loving me back. And I haven't stopped loving him."

"Aw be patient, maybe he has returned your love but is too shy to tell you." Morgan smiled.

"Nah, knowing my brother he would've told Zoe if he returned her feelings." Stella shook her head. "But he isn't interested in anyone else, so there's still hope."

"Thanks." Zoe smiled, feeling a little better. "Well, if I remember right there is prom night for us this coming year. Maybe I can get Fly to take me and that will help him return my feelings."

"Worth a try. Speaking of prom I'm wondering whether Chuck and I should go to his school or mine for it." Morgan said.

Zoe and Stella stared at Morgan, then smirked.

"Oh...was that out loud?" Morgan blushed.

"Don't worry about it, Stella and I were getting suspicious that you two were developing feelings for each other anyway." Zoe smiled.

"Yeah, especially since you two sometimes like to go off on your own." Stella grinned.

"Heh...yeah." Morgan admitted. "I mean he is smart, sweet, fun..."

"He is. I mean I prefer the brave, kind, and selfless type myself but Chuck is a good match for you." Zoe nodded.

"You going to tell him now or wait until prom?" Stella asked.

"I decided that if he doesn't ask me out before prom, I'll tell him how I feel then." Morgan said. "Let him decide whether it's time for us to date or not for now. And with prom you can bend certain rules, hence why couples sometime stay out past curfew."

"Sounds good." Zoe nodded.

Meanwhile, the guys were having their own chat about love.

"So Chuck, I've noticed that you've been spending more alone time with Morgan than usual." Fly smiled as they looked over electronics; they weren't going to buy any, they were just looking. "Any comments?"

"Well...okay I do have feelings for Morgan. I'm just too shy to tell her." Chuck gave in, knowing that if he didn't Fly would just keep pressuring him.

"Okay..." Fly thought. "Hey I know, since you're too shy to tell her why don't you write to her? That way you can make sure the message is perfect before she reads it, and you don't have to worry about stammering or anything."

"That could work. You mean write her a letter asking her out on a date?" Chuck said.

"I don't mean a postcard." Fly chuckled.

"Oh god no, I'd be to nervous about someone else reading it before Morgan." Chuck chuckled back before smirking: "So, since you're the one who brought up the topic of love any luck regarding Zoe?"

"Well, I set myself up for that..." Fly muttered before sighing. "No. Still don't feel anything for her other than friendship. Maybe it's because Aunt Anna adopted her...I mean I know she's technically not my cousin, not by blood, but still..."

"You want to love Zoe?" Chuck guessed.

"Yeah, I can tell she still loves me and I really do like her." Fly nodded. "But my heart hasn't beat faster or anything around her since she first kissed me."

"Maybe you're still not ready and will fall in love with her later." Chuck suggested reassuringly.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll still ask Zoe to our prom either way though. I know she won't want to go with anyone else, and the thought of her going with someone else isn't exactly a pleasant one."

"Do I detect a note of jealousy?" Chuck teased.

"Jealous?" Fly scoffed, before wincing. "Well...technically no one else is interested in her so I have no reason to be jealous. But..." He groaned. "Okay so I would get jealous if someone else started dating her. But how could I if I don't even love her back yet?"

"Maybe you just have a mild crush on her." Chuck shrugged. "One that's strong enough for you to hate the idea of her dating someone else, but not strong enough for you to want to start dating her yourself."

"Maybe..." Fly sighed. "This is torture...why can't my heart make up its mind?"

"I don't know." Chuck said sympathetically.

Fly felt even worse when it was time to meet the girls for lunch, because he tried to feel romantic love for Zoe but couldn't.

"_Come on heart...beat faster...come on feel warmer...something!_" Fly thought desperately.

But nothing. What if he never returned Zoe's feelings and fell in love with someone else while Zoe still loved him? He didn't want to break her heart.

Chuck and Morgan on the other hand:

"A letter from Chuck?" Morgan grinned to herself after getting the mail a few days later.

After giving her parents the rest of the mail she went upstairs to open her letter, and her grinned slowly grew wider.

Dear Morgan,

I've been wanting to tell you this for some time, but was always too shy to do so. Fly recently suggested I write to you instead, so here it goes:

I love you. You're smart, fun, kind, adventurous, plus I'll admit that you're beautiful. I understand if you don't return my feelings, but I would like to take you out on a date sometime. Maybe the Saturday after our first week at school? It doesn't have to be a romantic date, we can just hang out as friends if you prefer.

Please respond soon to let me know, whether by letter or phone.

Love,

Chuck

Morgan hugged the letter, and went for her phone. Fortunately her parents gave her a separate line the previous year so that she could call her new friends whenever she wanted without it interfering with her parents calls (the only rule was that she couldn't call on school nights unless her homework was done, and never after bedtime).

"Hi Chuck, just got your letter." Morgan grinned.

"Really?" Chuck sounded hopeful due to Morgan obviously sounding happy. "So...based on the tone of your voice...yes to hanging out?"

"Nope, yes to a date." Morgan corrected. "I actually fell in love with you a while ago. In fact if you hadn't asked me out I was going to take you to prom to tell you my feelings then."

"Your prom or mine?" Chuck chuckled.

"Yeah...it wouldn't be a bad idea to get that decision out of the way. Though yours may be better...that way at least we can hang out with Fly and Zoe." Morgan noted.

"Excellent point. Though I don't know if I want Fly teasing me during prom." Chuck joked.

"Oh he wouldn't...because then you'd be free to tease him during prom." Morgan winked even though she knew Chuck couldn't see it.

"True." Chuck laughed. "So about the Saturday after our first week at school..."

"Sounds good so far. First have to find out how much homework we have but schools are usually lenient during the first week." Morgan said. "How about a casual date to start off slow...maybe a trip to the natural history museum? Doubt our parents could say no to an educational trip."

"Sounds perfect, I never get tired of going there. And luckily they have a cafe, so we don't have to worry about going somewhere else for lunch."

"Exactly. So it's a date then?"

"It's a date."

And it was, like Morgan said their parents agreed to the date idea and were also happy for their kids (Anna embarrassingly so, making Chuck glad that Zoe was reading upstairs). Zoe found out next of course, but only after Anna had stopped crushing Chuck with a hug. Chuck carefully went upstairs, not wanting to hurt himself.

"You okay bro?" Zoe asked, noticing that Chuck looked a bit pained.

"Mom just hugged me." Chuck explained.

"Ah, must've given her some good news then." Zoe winced, remembering being on the receiving end of similar hugs in the past.

"Yeah...Morgan loves me back." Chuck grinned.

"All right!" Zoe pumped a fist. "So are you two going out that Saturday?"

"Yup. Natural history museum."

"Sounds perfect. Wonder what my first date with Fly should be after he returns my feelings...?"

"Aquarium?" Chuck smirked good-naturedly.

"Ha ha, very funny." Zoe grinned. "Not a bad idea though..."

Fly and Stella of course found out next and were also happy for Chuck.

And when their date came around, Chuck and Morgan had a great time. Of course they weren't exactly happy about being needed to driven around by Anna, but it was better than nothing and at least they could be in the museum by themselves.

After dropping Morgan off, Chuck walked her to the door.

"How gentlemanly of you." Morgan smiled.

"Just didn't want mom scolding me for not doing it." Chuck winked, making Morgan giggle.

"So...should we have our first kiss now or later?" Morgan asked, wanting to kiss Chuck but only when he's comfortable.

"Let's save it for when mom's not around." Chuck rolled his eyes.

"Good idea." Morgan chuckled. "How about at the beach next Saturday? It's too cold to go swimming but at least you can get there on your own and I'm sure mom and dad won't mind dropping me off."

"That's actually very fitting, considering the beach is where we met." Chuck smiled. "Okay, it's a date. I'll see you then."

"See you Chuck." Morgan smiled before hugging him.

He returned the hug, and she went inside. Chuck happily went back to the car.

"No kiss?" Anna said disappointingly, making Chuck grateful that he and Morgan hadn't (especially since he saw her quickly hide something).

"We're not ready." Chuck shrugged.

"Oh, okay then." Anna accepted this.

Once they got home, Anna went into the kitchen to start making dinner. The phone then rang, and Chuck answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Chuck, how was the date?" Fly's voice said on the other end.

"Wonderful, perfect even!" Chuck grinned. "Well, except for mom driving us." He added in a lower voice.

"I can imagine, but I don't want to." Fly chuckled. "I'm guessing that because of her you two didn't kiss?"

"You got it. Thankfully too, she brought the camera. I saw her hide it when I got back into the car."

"Oh no." Fly laughed. "I'm glad I can drive, I won't have to worry about that with my mom."

"Worry about what with me?" Chuck overheard Lisa say.

"Oops. Er, trying to take a photo of me kissing my first date." Fly admitted sheepishly.

"Hey, what's wrong with that?" Lisa chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll never take that kind of photo if you're not comfortable with it."

"Thanks." Fly chuckled back before switching back to Chuck. "Anyway I probably should go, I have a feeling mom showed up to tell me that dinner's ready."

"You got it." Lisa confirmed.

"No problem, Zoe's probably anxious to hear about my date anyway." Chuck chuckled.

"I am not!"

Chuck and Fly froze, and then cracked up.

"I mean...oh darn it..." Zoe muttered as she went to her room.

"Okay...I should go calm down now...I don't want to choke on my dinner..." Fly gasped as he started to catch his breath.

"Luckily mom only started making dinner...so I have time..." Chuck gasped back. "But yeah, I'll talk to you later."

"Right. Bye."

"Bye."

Chuck hung up, and then went into his sister's room. The door was open anyway, though Chuck had a feeling that Zoe simply forgot to close it.

"Sis?" He said.

"Don't you know to knock?" Zoe muttered, blushing heavily, as she tried to read her upside-down book.

"The door's open." Chuck deadpanned.

"Oh...whoops..." Zoe facepalmed. "*Ugh*, sorry about that. You're right I guess I was too anxious to hear how your date went."

"That's okay, that just means you care." Chuck smiled before winking: "And at least you don't give crushing hugs."

Zoe chuckled, feeling better. Seeing this, Chuck shut the door and told Zoe about his date. Zoe was really happy to hear that he and Morgan had a great time, but shook her head upon hearing about the camera.

"I'll try to remember to hide that thing before your next date with Morgan." She chuckled.

"I'd appreciate it. I'll owe you for it too." Chuck nodded.

"Nah, you can just pay me back by hiding the camera whenever Fly and I go out in the future."

"Deal." Chuck said, holding out his hand; Zoe shook it.

The following Saturday, Chuck and Morgan spent their time at the beach looking for and at tide pools. The moment they found a nice spot and felt ready, they kissed.

Chuck and Morgan continued dating over the next few months. Their family and friends of course were happy for them, but Zoe and Fly couldn't help feeling wistful and a little jealous.


	5. Happy Endings

Then prom time neared. Chuck and Morgan of course already knew that they were going to Chuck's together...

"Hey...Zoe?" Fly went up to her during lunch one day.

"Yeah Fly?" Zoe smiled.

"I was wondering if you want to go to the prom with me. I hope so, I don't want to go alone." Fly chuckled.

"Well who says you have to go at all?" Zoe teased.

"Someone's gotta keep an eye on Chuck and Morgan." Fly winked.

"Not funny Fly." Chuck frowned, just arriving with his lunch.

"Aw come on, I was only teasing." Fly grinned.

"Okay, in that case you want me to keep an eye on you and Zoe?" Chuck retorted teasingly.

Fly playfully elbowed him, causing Zoe to giggle.

"I swear, for cousins you two are more like brothers." She grinned.

Fly and Chuck chuckled.

"Anyway, of course I want to go to the prom with you Fly. In fact I don't want to go at all if I can't go with you."

"Great. I'll pick you up around fifteen minutes before prom starts then, in case traffic turns out to be bad that night." Fly smiled.

"Can you pick up me and Morgan too?" Chuck asked. "I don't want mom to drive us there."

"Sure, after all you and Zoe live in the same house so it makes sense anyway. We'll pick up Morgan last...so I should probably aim for picking up you guys an hour before prom or so instead."

"Maybe an hour and a half to be safe."

"Okay."

When prom night arrived, that's what they did. Fly drove to Chuck and Zoe's house to pick them up...but only Chuck came out.

"Zoe will be here in a minute, she's just deciding on her earrings." Chuck explained.

"Ah."

After a few more seconds Zoe arrived. Fly went outside to open the car door for her...and froze. Zoe was wearing a sea-green gown with shell-shaped earrings and a pearl necklace. Fly suddenly started to feel warm, and his heart started beating faster...he always really liked her personality, but it wasn't until now that he realized how beautiful she really was.

"_This is it...I've officially fallen in love with Zoe..._" He realized. "_Now I just have to find the right time to tell her_."

"You look beautiful." He smiled.

"Thank you, you look very handsome yourself." Zoe smiled back.

Fly's heart skipped a beat.

"Hold on, hold on!" Anna rushed outside.

Fly and Zoe just rolled their eyes with amusement. Sure enough, Anna took their photo.

"And Chuck, you are going to ask Morgan's parents to send me their photo of you two?" Anna double-checked.

"Yes mom, we've been over this a hundred times." Chuck smirked.

"We have not! Well...maybe twenty..." Anna admitted with a wince.

Fly and Zoe chuckled.

"Okay okay enough of that, you kids go on and have a good time. But not too good." Anna pretended to be irritated.

"You got it Aunt Anna." Fly chuckled.

Fly and Zoe got into the car, and drove to Morgan's. Chuck went to the front door to greet Morgan and her parents, and Chuck and Morgan got their pictures taken (he did ask Morgan's parents to send copies to his mom, but only to prevent his mom from complaining about not getting them). He and Morgan then went to the car, and Fly drove them all to the prom. They did get there a bit early, but not too early.

They had a great time at the prom too. Dancing, chatting with friends and each other, etc. And even though Fly did spend a bit of the prom figuring out how to tell Zoe his new feelings, he was able to enjoy the prom as well. Then he realized that the upbeat songs were coming to a close, and pulled Zoe aside to where the could talk in relative privacy.

"Something wrong Fly?" Zoe asked concernedly.

"No, the opposite actually." Fly smiled. "Zoe...earlier tonight...I realized that I love you back."

Zoe dropped her mouth open, at first thinking that she heard wrong...but then she looked into his eyes. She grinned and hugged him.

It was just in time too, because the slow dancing was just beginning. Hearing the music, Fly looked at the dance floor and then turned to Zoe with an inviting smile and an outstretched hand. Zoe smiled and nodded before taking his hand, and he led her onto the dance floor. Chuck and Morgan saw this and watched with joy, realizing that Fly had finally returned Zoe's feelings.

As Fly and Zoe continued to dance they felt their love growing stronger. Finally...they kissed.

After the prom, they of course headed home. Morgan was dropped of first, and she and Chuck shared a parting kiss before she went inside. Chuck and Zoe were obviously dropped off next. Chuck led the way, wanting to keep the door shut until Fly and Zoe had their good night kiss so that Anna wouldn't take a photo of them kissing. That didn't stop Anna from trying to take one through the window, but Fly and Zoe had spotted her and hid behind Chuck before kissing.

"So, when shall we have our first official date?" Zoe asked.

"I think sometime next weekend, tomorrow or Sunday may be too short notice." Fly said. "How about the aquarium?"

"Sounds good- Wait, did Chuck suggest that to you?" She looked at her brother suspiciously.

Chuck whistled innocently.

"He did, but I only agreed to it because it sounds like a great idea." Fly chuckled.

"Oh okay..." Zoe pretended to forgive her brother; mostly because she wasn't really mad at him to begin with. "I'll see you Monday if not sooner."

"Good night."

Fly and Zoe hugged, and Chuck and Zoe went inside.

"You guys really don't want me to take a photo of your kisses do you?" Anna pouted.

"It is a little embarrassing." Chuck admitted. "But mostly we're just having fun with you."

"If you really want to take a photo of me and Fly kissing...well, I'll ask him first but it's okay with me." Zoe said.

"No it's fine, I guess I was being too enthusiastic about my children's love lives." Anna smiled. "I'm just happy you've both found someone, since I don't want either of you to be alone."

"Well, no worries about that." Chuck smiled.

"None at all." Zoe agreed.

They were right. Chuck and Morgan and Fly and Zoe continued dating well past graduation; much to Stella's joy since she always loved the idea of Morgan and Zoe joining the family.

Both couples had to compromise a bit during college, since they went to different ones, but they just saw the challenge as proof that they'd be able to stay together through anything.

Chuck did become a biology teacher, but not entirely like his dad: instead of being one for college, he was one for high school. Morgan ended up working at the aquarium, same with Fly but to a different extent. Rather than being a scientist like Morgan Fly decided to just take care of the marine life. Zoe decided to become a lifeguard at the pool, so that she could swim almost whenever she wanted.

As for Stella, she missed her brother and cousins when they went to college and was always happy to see them during summers and holidays. Obviously she was really happy when all of them graduated, and was proud of them when they each got the job they wanted. Otherwise she either dealt with or enjoyed school, depending on the subject, and had fun with her other friends and Sasha.

Fly also saved up and bought his own cabin cruiser, so that he and Zoe could go out into the ocean and become fish whenever they wanted. Chuck and Morgan still enjoyed doing that too, but grew too busy with their jobs to do it as often. Stella could still go often though, at least during summer, so Fly and Zoe frequently invited her to join them.

Also Stella had been debating on getting a job at the aquarium too to stay close to Fly - who will always be her best friend - but eventually decided that horses were really her thing. She decided to get a job at the local equestrian center instead, especially so that Sasha could meet other horses (which she didn't get to do often).

Then, one summer when they were 28, Fly took Zoe out on the boat by themselves. He made sure to leave late in the day so that they'd be able to see the sunset.

"Dinner on a boat...don't think we ever had this date before." Zoe smiled. "We should more often."

"I won't argue with that, but the reason why we never had this kind of date before was because I was saving it for a special occasion." Fly smiled; he then pulled a ring box out of his pocket. "Zoe, will you marry me?"

Zoe teared up a bit.

"Of course I will." She smiled.

Fly put the ring on her finger, and they leaned over the table to kiss.

After that they didn't want to leave each other, so Fly invited Zoe back to his place. They decided to have a sleepover by camping out in the living room watching movies, and fell asleep on the couch.

The next day they went to tell their family and Morgan the good news. Everyone was happy for them, and they instantly started to make plans. Well, Anna did unsurprisingly, and Lisa wanted to help too. Bill decided to stay out of it, since he knew how crazy his sister could get when it came to planning. Fly and Zoe let them, under the condition that they use the theme they wanted: ocean. Anna and Lisa had no problem with that, after all the ocean was where Fly and Zoe met.

Chuck was picked as Fly's best man, and Anna was to be the maid of honor - Stella and Morgan were also considered, but then Zoe realized that this may be the only chance her mom would ever get to be maid of honor. So Stella and Morgan simply became bridesmaids. Since they didn't know any little kids well enough, Fly and Zoe decided to leave out the flower girl and ring bearer. Instead Chuck would give Fly his ring for Zoe while Anna would give Zoe her ring for Fly. The flower girl was skipped entirely, especially since they weren't going to have that many flowers anyway. Just a basic wedding bouquet for Zoe with shells painted blue added. Fly in turn wore a long blue shell pin in place of a boutonniere.

After the wedding Fly and Zoe left for their month-long honeymoon in Hawaii, where they could enjoy many ocean-related activities.

A few weeks after they got back, Chuck and Morgan went on a date to the local park, specifically the hiking section, to search for animals to study as well as look at the plants. After a while, when Chuck was sure they were alone, he knelt down.

"Chuck?" Morgan was surprised.

"Morgan, before I met you I wasn't sure if I'd ever find the right girl. One who was not only nice but also smart, and later on I wanted someone fun and adventurous. And that ended up being you. I know I'll never find anyone as good as you, and because of that I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Chuck brought out a ring box. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes I will." Morgan smiled.

Chuck put the ring on her finger, and then got up so that they could kiss.

Similar to what happened to Fly and Zoe, everyone was happy for Chuck and Morgan and Anna wanted to plan this wedding too. Morgan's mom however insisted that this time she do most of the planning, since Anna already had her turn with her daughter. As long as she could help Zoe pick a bridesmaid dress, Anna was fine with this.

This time the wedding didn't have a special theme, it was just a traditional wedding. Sans ring bearer and flower girl of course, since they still didn't know anyone who could play either role. Fly, Chuck's best man, instead gave Chuck his ring for Morgan and Morgan's mom, the maid of honor, gave Morgan her ring for Chuck. Needless to say, Hubert was overjoyed to have Chuck as his nephew-in-law since Chuck had become like a son to him not long after they met.

After the wedding Chuck and Morgan went to Queensland, so that they could spend part of their honeymoon studying the wildlife in the Great Barrier Reef.

Stella eventually found a guy too, at the equestrian center. He became the first one after Morgan to learn about Sasha being a seahorse and about the fish potion...but that wasn't until years later after he proposed to Stella. Unsurprisingly, their wedding was horse themed. They spent their honeymoon camping and horseback riding.

All three couples eventually had kids of their own. Fly and Zoe were relieved that their kids weren't half-fish, at least not in a way that was obvious to strangers. They still had no problems with Zoe having been a fish, but didn't want to risk their kids growing up shunned by society or risk the government snooping around. Chuck and Morgan had smart kids, though their daughter actually became more of an athlete than a scientist. As long as she kept her grades up, Chuck and Morgan didn't mind this one bit. Stella and her husband's children also grew up loving horses, and enjoyed the sea too.

All three families didn't have perfect lives, but that was only because no one ever does. Otherwise they came as close as anyone could to having perfect lives.


End file.
